Jerusalem artichoke

English
Plant with flowers (1)
Tubers (2)

Etymology

Uncertain, possible corruption of Italian girasole articiocco (“sunflower artichoke”), with girasole mistaken for the word Jerusalem via folk etymology.[1]

Noun

Jerusalem artichoke (plural Jerusalem artichokes)

  1. A variety of sunflower, Helianthus tuberosus, native to North America, having yellow flower heads and edible tubers.
  2. The tuber of this plant, eaten as a vegetable.
    Synonyms: earthapple, sunchoke

Synonyms

Translations

References
  1. Smith, James Edward (1807), chapter 12, in An introduction to physiological and systematical botany: “A corruption, as I presume, of the Italian name Girasole Articiocco, sun-flower Artichoke, as the plant was first brought from Peru to Italy, and thence propagated throughout Europe.”

Further reading
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